As the Winter Olympics enter its 5th day; social media is upbeat with cartoons, updates and news regarding the various events held there.
The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games or the PyeongChang 2018, is an ongoing international multi-sport event hosted by the county of Pyeongchang, South Korea. The county was selected as the host city in July 2011, during the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa. It marks the first time that South Korea has hosted the Winter Olympics. In the past, it has hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
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The Winter Olympics will run from the 8th to the 25th of February 2018. The games feature 102 events in fifteen sports. This includes the addition of big air snowboarding, mass start speed skating, mixed doubles curling, and mixed team alpine skiing. A total of 2,952 athletes from 92 National Olympic Committees are slated to compete, including the debut of Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore.
Today’s google doodle celebrates the fifth day with a rather sleepy racoon dog sleighing down a track. The racoon dog is a native animal of South Korea. It is shown participating in a game called ‘luge’.
It depicts the raccoon dog waking up from a deep slumber, and accidentally, slipping into the natural track meant for sledging. He is left surprised with the freezing temperature as he reaches the bottom of the slope.
Luge is a popular game during winters and on heavy snow slopes. These games are played with the help of a sled-like support. The participants do not have any external protection during the race apart from a helmet which makes the sport quite dangerous. The speed can extend upto 140 kilometers per hour without any breaks.
It is one of the oldest games of Winter Olympics dating back to 1964 when it was announced as an entry. However, it has been popular since the 16th century. It was first introduced in Switzerland and the first luge tracks were made by a Swiss hotel owner. From then on, worldwide, this has been a much sought-after winter game.
The doodle video ends with the racoon dog being announced a winner by the little magpie from the first Doodle.
Something to surely get all of us interested in watching the amazing Olympics!